with 10 days left until Christmas ,I am wondering what prep for December 25,is like in the Dominican Republic? What are the traditions? How do families spend the day?
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Dec 25th is not as important the the previous evening, when families get together for the traditional 'Noche Buena' meal. Gifts are given to children on January 6th (Reyes) but in some parts of the DR the tradition is to give these on the 24th or 25th (El Ni?o Jes?s).
The reason we do the celebrations on Christmas Eve instead of Christmas Day is because the way it used to be was that people would celebrate the anticipation of the birth of Christ, which according to tradition is dictated by the church at the midnight mass on the 25th. That mass is called "Misa de Gallo". So, people would celebrate on Christmas Eve, then around midnight go to church to celebrate the midnight mass, and then spend the 25th in peace out of respect for Christ.Yes the 24th is the big day and i always have conflicting opinion on it. At first i thought it was like celebrating your birthday the day before but actually i think its a great idea as it means mum can enjoy Christmas day itself with the family and not slaving away in the kitchen all day.
The reason we do the celebrations on Christmas Eve instead of Christmas Day is because the way it used to be was that people would celebrate the anticipation of the birth of Christ, which according to tradition is dictated by the church at the midnight mass on the 25th. That mass is called "Misa de Gallo". So, people would celebrate on Christmas Eve, then around midnight go to church to celebrate the midnight mass, and then spend the 25th in peace out of respect for Christ.
Yes the 24th is the big day and i always have conflicting opinion on it. At first i thought it was like celebrating your birthday the day before but actually i think its a great idea as it means mum can enjoy Christmas day itself with the family and not slaving away in the kitchen all day.
I do myself however like to do the gifts on the 25th like back home, and i cant wait for the day my little girl is big enough to understand stories about santa clause and such because one thing i do feel is the world over many people seem to no longer put the gifts under the tree the night before christmas when the children are sleeping, and fill stockings etc. Many seem to put the gifts under the tree weeks before its time to open them.
It actually quite nice as i manage to combine two christmasses in one, the dominican style 24th and the traditional english 25th, problem is that means twice as many calories!:ermm:
Merry Christmas everyone!
And twice as many gifts. Don't forget the 6th of January, el dia de los reyes
Nals/Rubio?lauraJane,
it is usually exactly like that in katholic ciuntries.
i disagree with LauraJane on the presents on 24th as just typical dominican, it is typical for most katholic countries like Nals described above.
x-mas eve dinner withy the family, then the presents get opened, on midnight the mass. that's exactly the since ever way in Germany, too.
that the 'reyes' are celebrated in DR is a good plus for the kids, an extra presents day, ha ha, and an extra day of for the working adults, too, even that the 'reyes 2009' are in the DR moved from tuesday jan 6th to monday january 5th 2009, so it is really a opening of the presents 1 day before the birthday, ha ha.
Mike